Baruchel is Klutz

I once saw Jay Baruchel in a Montreal cafe many years ago, there to a show a short film he'd made at a weekly screening night organized by Montreal's tight-knit independent film community. We all knew he had starred in a short-lived Fox comedy series called "Undeclared", but the Apatow explosion hadn't occurred yet, so it was like, no big deal. His film, a MEMENTO-style tale about a couple's love gone violently awry was good, and I remember thinking to myself "Shit. This dude is talented."

Fast forward almost a decade later; after choice roles in KNOCKED UP and TROPIC THUNDER, Baruchel has slowly ascended the ranks of comedy's food chain, and is suddenly a hot commodity. So hot in fact, that his long-gestating passion project JOHNNY KLUTZ--based on an original character created by Baruchel himself--has been picked up by Universal and will be produced by heavyweights Ben Stiller, Stuart Cornfeld and Jeremy Kramer.

Also on board is WAITING scribe Rob McKittrick, who has helped Baruchel flesh out a story for the character--a lovable loser who is impervious to pain. Baruchel of course, will play the title character and a director has not yet been set. If the lanky kid from Canada can in fact produce a film that is genuinely funny, one which he conceived, wrote and starred in--well then we may just be looking at comedy's next big star. Shit, is this what jealousy tastes like?